Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

There is no way to know exactly when the process of selling a wife for the purpose of ending a marriage began. It may have occurred as early as 1073, but the first established case occurred in 1553. At its most basic, a man ended his marriage by selling his wife to another man. Customs used for the sale of cattle were applied: a rope was put around the wife’s neck and she was led to the marketplace, paying toll along the way, where she was sold to the highest bidder at auction. If this weren’t humiliating enough, the price was sometimes determined by weight. As this was an auction, the auctioneer (possibly her husband) would have described her to the crowd of purchasers, possibly praising her virtues (which could improve the chance of sale and the purchase price) or listing her flaws (another potential source of punishment and humiliation).